In case anyone encounters the same issue, I figured out what was triggering the error code. I had to revisit all the sections asking about dependent care credit and confirm
1) my spouse and I lived apart between July 1 and December 31
2) the person whose care I paid for lived with me for more than half of 2020
3) I paid more than half the expenses of maintaining my home
By doing this it cleared the error message asking about spouse's earned income.
